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mandlaVolume 9 Issue 12 973-419-0073 / 973-731-1339 An African Community Newspaper December 15, 2010 - January 16, 2011

Founded October 2003

by Kofi Ayim

Bonwire comes to Staten Kente, the intricate multicolored apparelthat is exclusively associated with

Ghanas culture and symbolic pride ofmany Africans born outside Africa has

now come to Staten Island, New York to

stay. The interest in the first ever livekente weaving demonstration in a 2005

Cultural Diversity Program organized

by Wagner College of Staten Islandseemed to be dying out when Samuel

Owusu Sekyere a Ghanaian community

leader, chanced upon a family of kenteweavers - Nana Adu Bofour, Oti Kegya

and Kofi Marfo from the ancestral

home of indigenous kente, Bonwire, inthe Ashanti Region. The board member

of the Staten Island Immigrant Council

and Vice president of the Ghanaian As-sociation of Staten Island liaised on be-

half of his group with Chris J. Mule a

folklorist and Deputy Director of theCouncil of the Arts & Humanities for

Staten Island (COASI), and in collabo-ration with the Newhouse Center for

Contemporary Art, created the AK

WAABA Weaving Unity between Bon

wire and Staten Island exhibition. Theproblem of acquiring a traditional loom

was resolved when David Ricciardi anartist and carpenter with input from the

three weavers redesigned and con-

structed a collapsible and portable loomcomplete with rolling wheels. Given the

fact that indigenous looms are station-

Island...on wheels

ary, observers believe this innovation isprobably the first of its kind in the

world.

Strange Disease Killing Local

Industry in Ghana

Kofi Marfo (left) and Nana Adu Bofour weave kente in Staten Island like they used to do atBonwire

Wilted coconut trees, a common sight on Ghanas coastal belt

In an interview Chris Mule opined that

it is prudent for Staten Island to cele-

brate cultural diversity to meet theneeds and challenges of its growing

mixed heritage. He pointed out that it isimportant for homogenous cultures to

reconnect with their identity and also to

teach and share the history and culturewith one another, especially the younger

generation.

Making kente, like unique trades re-quires elaborate dexterity and long

hours of sitting. It takes between two to

four days to weave the most basic andsimple cloth. Complex ones with geo-

metrical patterns and designs could take

up to three months or more for a 10hour a day work. The strips of woven

cloths are sewn together into rectangu-

lar shapes. Authentic kente cloth is notmass manufactured. Every woven kente

cloth from strips of college graduation

to ceremonial gowns of academic pom-posity and flowing clerical gowns is

baptized with a name. The name, usu-ally proverbial, reflects socio economic

or religious tendencies in an environ-

ment. So the next time you see someonewearing kente, inquire of its name.

The AKWAABA Weaving Unity exhibit

runs from November 6 to April 3 2011at the spacious and sprawling Snug Har-

bor complex, Staten Island. All events

are free and open to the public Tuesdaythrough Sunday. For more information

contact Chris Mule at 718 447-3329 x

1006 or Sam Owusu Sekyere at 347409-7618.

nately, international funding andgrants have dried up.

The government of Ghana is nowexploiting innovative ways that

came out of research projects to re-

vive the industry. Hybrids of theVanuatu Tall and Pumilla Green

Dwarf as well as Vantum Tall and

Malayan Yellow Dwarf that havebeen known to be tolerant to the dis-

ease are being replanted on fertile

lands. Thus far, an area of about1,300 hectares has been replanted

and a total of 1006 hectares of exist-

ing coconut farms that belong tosome 367 farmers in 29 communities

were fertilized from 2000 to 2002.

Stakeholders hope government findsfunds for more research to alleviate

the plight of coconut growers as was

done during the period of the Akatecocoa disease. Until that happens the

destiny of a whole chunk of coconut

farmers would be at the mercy ofProvidence for survival.

Varieties of coconut (Sri Lanka Ceylon - types, Malayan Dwarf and

West African Tall) were introduced

in south-eastern Ghana as an estatecrop in the early 1920s.

Source: Ministry of Food & Agricul

ture, Ghana

y Kofi Ayim

or almost 80 years the local co-

onut industry in Ghana has beenlagued with a strange disease that

cientists have been unable to diag-ose. The once thriving

oconut/copra business from

0,000 hectares of cultivation in960 to 24,371.36 hectares in 2009 -

n the Volta, Western and Central

arts of Ghana is gradually beingecimated by a rare strain of virus

alled the Lethal Yellow Disease

(LYD) or locally Cape St. Paul Wiltisease (CSPWD).

irst detected at Woe near Cape St.

aul in the Volta Region in 1932,and spotted at Cape Three Points,

estern Region in 1964 and at

yensudu near Komenda, Centralegion in 1988, this malignant co-

onut cancer can be dormant for

ecades, and reappear with a suddenlinger on the coastal areas.profusion. It has the ability toIts vector (carrier) is undetermined

jump tens of kilometers to afflictand there is no known treatment yet.other healthy (coconut) trees. In aIt is however, not limited to Ghana,given area, the disease can affectand exists with marked differences

several trees, but leave others un-in other coconut growing areas ofscathed. For unknown reasons, LYDWest Africa and the Caribbean.has never been able to penetrate intoThe debilitating effect of the disease

the forest belts, choosing rather to blackens the tree and initially ren-

AfriMETROHonorsProminentAfricans atNew YorkGalaBy Pamela Appea

AfriMETRO, a nonprofit and profes-

sional networking association andew York Universitys Wagner Stu-

dents Alliance for Africa hosted a

Holiday Gala and Golden Jubilee

on December 8 at NYUs Kimmel

Center in the East Village, attended

by more than 125 participants. The

gala was a fundraiser for global liter-

acy; honoring several community

heroes that have devoted significant

time and energy to Africa and the

African Diaspora community includ-

ing essential causes such as literacy,

maternal health and human rights.

This year has been a particularly

exciting year for AfriMETRO, said

founder Folake K. Ayoola who the

day after the Golden Jubilee NYCevent was on route to Houston,

Texas for another professional gala

ders its palm and leaves profuselyyellow and then brown, forcing pre-

mature dropping of (coconut) pods

and branches in the process. In retro-spect, a hitherto blooming and pro-

ductive coconut tree would be

stripped off its nutrients and assumea form and shape of a typical electric

or telephone pole.

and event.

AfriMETROs work is important in

the community because we are one

of the very few organizations in the

tri-state area withAfrican profes-

sionals and friends of Africa fo-

cused on building a new positive

image of Africa and Africans. We do

this by organizing business, charita-

ble and professional networking

events that inform, educate, em-

power, and celebrate Africa and

Africans. Our history is grounded in

the spirit of collaboration and com-

munity, Ms. Ayoola said.Continued on page 9

The devastation of thissubsistence economy in af-

fected coastal areas of

Ghana has driven severalfamilies into poverty and

negatively influenced qual-ity of life. It is conserva-

tively estimated that loss

of income from the cashcrop hovers around

GH62,200 per year or

$43,034.6.The Government of Ghana

has employed several miti-

gating factors to stem thediabolical spread of the

disease. A joint France-

Ghana-Cote dIvoire proj-ect was initiated in 1981.

The research found out

that the viral disease at-tacks plasma in coconuts.

The World Bank and the

European Union in 1991and 1993 respectively funded the re-

search on the vector disease. Andagain in 1997 France partnered

Ghana in a 5-year intervention pro-

gram to revamp the industry. So farnone of the scientific projects was

able to nail how the disease is trans-

mitted from tree to tree. Unfortu-

Actor GbengaAkinnagbe (right)poses with anadmirer. The actorwas among a num-ber of celebritieswho were at theGala